Role Play Pool Party!

Chugami shook his head. "This pot and its contents are my life's work. I never lose track of where I put it down. And I know for sure the last place I left it was in the throne room. Someone - or possibly something - moved it, and when I find out who, I am going to be very very cross with them. Until then..." He hoisted it up and strapped it back on his... well, back. "...we continue, and wait for the others to return."

Safely clearing the last few feet of the cliff, she slowly got her feet back onto the ground. Looking up, she saw Koopa Castle just twenty feet in front of them. They were on the left side of the castle, it was surrounded by a moat of bubbling, hot red lava with a drawbridge that was cemented permanently as a bridge and the beginning of the gateway to the glorious Koopa keep.

She sat down and began to untie the rope from her ankle. Looking up at Xiuhcoatl, she smiled kindly to him. He was a very brave koopa, she thought. He had gone through all this to find home and to restore it to its prime before its years of vacancy. She admired him, he was truly an honor to have known.

Looking to Clive, she knew that King Bowser or anybody head of the Koopa army would of gladly had him by their side for battle. He was loyal and tough, but yet had a big heart of gold.

She stood up, brushed out the knots and tangles that had formed in her hair with a free hand and looked at that looming castle with wide eyes of wonder. It was time to go home.

His tail uncoiling from the ankle of Clive, Xiuhcoatl untied the rope from around his waist. He turned to look at Koopa Castle, it was still a beautiful looking place from the outside. The glow from the hot lava moat reflected off of its silver brick walls and lit up underneath the drawbridge, a welcoming pathway to the Koopa holm. He gave Crystal a hug and smiled. "Let's go inside", he said softly to both of them. "I'm sure the throne room isn't too far from the lobby of the castle. We can find Orinda from there."

He began to walk towards the castle drawbridge, looking around at the Valley of Bowser. It was in better shape than the rest of Dinosaur Land that they had seen, but it was still as deserted and empty. He saw a few small buildings and an empty castle, he assumed belonged to a Koopaling at one time. No sunshine got into this land, it was buried in a cavern under the sea. A perfect hideout and home for those of the Koopa empire.

Clive looked down the path to the castle ahead of him. He looked around at the buildings and at the emptiness.

"Hopefully we can make this place back to how it used to be, full of activity and glorious pride," he said. Clive then looked ahead down the path and said,

"Well time to go home. I'm looking forward to getting back to work."

She stopped in her tracks as she began walking up to the castle with Xiuhcoatl. "Who is Orinda?", she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Arriving at the castle drawbridge, Crystal saw that the door was locked down. She looked along the wall to the left of the door and found a doorbell. "How ironic!", she stated in sarcasm. Pressing a finger gently on the doorbell, she stood there awaiting to see who'd open the door.

Orinda was just on his way to the throne room when he heard a strange chime ring throughout the building. He looked around for a moment and then looked to Chugami. "That sounded an awful lot like a door signal", he whispered to him. "It has to be them."

Walking down the hallway, he knew that the lobby that led to the main doors was just two doors away from the room that they had all met together in, the room that smelled so terrible. Those goombas were fun to roast with that passage of gas he left off, he had to admit. Good times, Orinda, good times he thought as he walked to the lobby.

"Apparently he's our new king. But I still don't understand how that can be. We got a note apparently from Bowser talking about a king falling from the heavens and stuff and I didn't believe it. Logically speaking, Ludwig should be king as he is Bowser's heir," Clive said.

Xiuhcoatl wondered what Clive was thinking, there had hardly been any form of civilization besides Crystal in the Ghost House and those Koopa Troopas that had a post back in the Vanilla Dome.

"If Ludwig was really king, where is he?", he inquired. "There is no way in hell he'd let the whole place go to crap like it has." Shrugging as he approached the door where Crystal was standing, he stared off into the lava moat for a moment. "They're clearly all gone, Orinda is what the letter called for and he arrived.", he said firmly.

He wondered if either Orinda or Chugami could hear them at the door. Where ever they were in the castle, he hoped things went okay in their absence.

"I know that, I was just thinking in general terms of the actual rules in the succession of kings. In normal circumstances, the eldest koopaling would become king if anything happened to Bowser. But this is the first time in the kingdom's history as far as I am aware that a king not related to the koopa royal family in any form has been picked," Clive replied.

"If this castle has a doorbell, why doesn't it have electric lights yet...?" Chugami muttered as he followed the dragon king. "And, uh, if you wouldn't mind, could you... light all the torches on the way there? Just a thought."

"Of course!", he exclaimed as he began to skip through the hallway and into the lobby. Twirling around in circles and whistling, he arrived at the front door and pulled it open. On the other side of the door he found Xiuhcoatl, Clive and another Koopa Troopa.

"You guys made it back!", he proclaimed. "And not a moment too soon, Chugami was about to spin plates on his forehead while playing the ukelele in reverse." Motioning them inside, he looked at Crystal with wonder. Who was this new guest, he thought.. he must find out.

"So, who is this lovely new visitor? I believe we haven't met before."

He stood back for a moment as the door opened. Looking at Orinda with a confused look on his face, he motioned towards Crystal. "Crystal, this is Orinda Tarsa. He is the new king." Scratching his head for a moment, he looked to Orinda Tarsa and said, "Orinda, this is Crystal. We found her in the Vanilla Dome and she decided to join us."

Xiuhcoatl smiled and extended a hand to Crystal. "Ladies first. Please let's go in, shall we?"

As she took Xiuhcoatl's hand, she smiled as she walked into the castle with him. She studied the new king, it looked like some sort of dragon. "Not exactly what I was expecting, but a pleasure to meet you M'King, nonetheless.", she said quietly as she curtsied in respect to him.

Looking around the lobby, she liked the old charm of the place. It was truly fit for a king, though it looked like it could clearly use some cleaning up. Cobwebs were forming along the roof of the room and the stair rails looked quite dusty as well. The red carpet that led to the doorway looked like it was very musty as well, they had work to do to fix up this land inside and out.

Clive walked in behind Xiuchoatl and Crystal with happiness. He was glad to be back in the castle, the place he had served in for seven years.

"Hello again Orinda," he said greeting the dragon. "It's so glad to be back home. The sight of Dinosaur Land out there is horrible. It looks like a warzone."

"Admittedly, if I had gone mad, I probably would have tried doing that," Chugami added to the end of Orinda's greeting.

He waited patiently through the remaining introductions. Although this new Koopa intrigued him, he had other matters to attend to. "Xiuhcoatl, Clive? Do you think I can speak with you? Somewhere... private?"

Xiuhcoatl looked to Clive and pointed in the direction of the throne room. "We have a new king, I'm sure you know how to swear one in,", he said to him. "We have a lot of work to do to restore our homeland and that is the first big step."

Then looking to Chugami, he nodded towards him. "We'll be there in one moment."

He smiled and hugged Crystal before going with Chugami. "Welcome home, Crystal.. please feel free to get adjusted."

Clive didn't know how to respond to Xiuchoatl in the first part. He knew of the history of the Koopa Kingdom and all the previous kings had been directly been related to Bowser one way or another. He instead responded to his second part.

"Of course, this kingdom and indeed the whole of Dinosaur Land will be restored back to its original beauty whatever it takes. I don't care what I do or if it kills me but there is no way I am going to let the state of it remain like this."


Turning to Chugami, he said,

"I'm ready to go with you whenever Xiucoatl is."

Orinda had to admit it, female Koopa Troopas weren't bad looking by any means. That pink shell of hers was sure beautiful, it got his attention the first time he spotted it. Bowing in return of respect to her, he offered her a claw. "Have you seen the throne room?", he asked her curiously. "If not, please allow me to show you to it."

Chugami gave the two of them a nod, then stood to the side. The newcomer hadn't noticed him yet. All the better; giving her a little tour would keep Orinda away long enough to speak with the "landing party."

She hesitated for a moment before she gave him her hand. He was sure different.. he'd take a lot of time to get used to but he seemed to be friendly and harmless. "I'd love for you to show it to me, M'King", she said with a smile to him. "I believe I have not seen it."

She began to walk down the hallway to the throne room with Orinda, leaving the others in the lobby.

The three of them were now alone in the lobby, he kept an eye on Crystal as she walked down the hallway with Orinda. He knew that Orinda was a good guy and that she'd be safe with him. Turning his attention to Chugami and Clive, he figured that the entrance way was as private as it could get. Who else would knock on the door, there seemed to be nobody else left in the land.

"This area is private enough.", Xiuhcoatl said to Chugami. Crossing his arms, he leaned up against one of the old staircase rails. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Chugami watched the dragon and new girl leave before responding.

"First of all, I believe I have not made proper introductions to you. I am Chugami, master wandering storyteller. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He tipped his straw hat.

"Now that that's out of the way, I believe that Crystal is not the only thing you found in the Dome. Did you make contact with the Koopas stationed there?"

"Yes we did, one with a red shell, the other with a green shell. Why are you so interested?" Clive asked. "Do you know these koopas personally?"

"I'm more interested in what they told you," Chugami replied. "Recent developments while you were out have raised further questions, and I want to know if their story matches up."

"Not sure if this is really any of your business", Xiuhcoatl said with a cough, "but they basically relayed the same information from the note and recalled the story of how they found Orinda out in the Forest of Illusion. They also stated that Bowser had taken his koopa kids and left for a Bullet Bill airline flight from the top of Cookie Mountain two years ago."

Looking to Clive and then back to Chugami, he continued to speak. "It may be hard to take in, but the note lined up and the land truly looks like it had been left abandoned for a long time."